Cross Over
by Krrimarte
Summary: The kids are in D.C. and it just so happens that so is a insane person who'd targeting groups of homeless kids. Will Max become the next target?
1. Chapter 1

It was beyond freezing up here. Maybe I should have taken the hint when all of the planes started heading in when the snaow started coming down. Hey! I'm a teenager with wings, hallow bones, huge longs and I'm the almighty indisputable leader of the flock. Nowhere in there did I say I was observent. 

I heard a sneeze and looked over. If it had come from one of the kids I would have started to worry, but it came from Fang. Fang, who other then grievous injuries has never been anywhere near sick a day in his life. "Okay, we land." I commanded.

I didn't even know where we were going to land yet. Taking a quick look below us I spotted what appeared to be a large cemtary. "We land near that statue." I told them, have saying it to myself.

Tucking in my wings I swooped in at an easy glide. When we'd all landed I looked at my flock. This wasn't good. We'd just come from Texas, so the warmest thing we all had was a couple of blankets and some wind breakers. "It looks like we need to find some coats guys."

Fang gave me a miserable "No duh" Yep, he was deffinately sick. Which meant I had to get them all in a warm place asap.

Suddenly I saw a figure move not a 100 yards away. I turned to see a small black woman stare at us all in amazement. "Are you... Are you those kids we saw on the news?" She asked.

Great, just great. Well at least she wasn't a white coat.

"... Yes" I said. Her eyes lit up. "Please, don't tell anyone."

The old woman smiled, "I won't tell a soul, sugar." She said. "But you children need to get out of this blizzard. Do you have somewhere to go?"

I looked at her and bit my lip. I wanted to lie and say that we did, but that would leave us out in the cold. So I did something in between. "We're looking, but first I need to get these guys some gear. I wasn't expecting a blizzard.

The old woman nodded and shufffled through her purse. "I have been reading your page on the Internet-"

"My blog?" Fang asked, interupting the woman to tsked at him.

"I've been reading your...blog... and I don't like what they're doing. You guys need all of the support you can get." She said softly.

I think my eyeballs were hanging down by my knees. "And you never doubted it?"

The woman smile. "Honey, I'm the mother of a homicide detective, I've heard alot of things that I found hard to believe, but they were always true. My name is Granny Cross." And she handed me a card. "That's my son Alex. If you run into any problems down here in D.C, I want you to call him. He's a good boy, he'll help you." She said and started to march across the snow.

Alex Cross... Why did that name sound so familiar...?


	2. At the Scene

I drove the sedan onto the grassy slope and put the car into park. Taking a deep breath I prepared myself for what I was about to see. I turned the ignition off and pocketed the keys. I opened the door. Time to transform myself from Alex Cross the person, into Alex Cross the homicide detective. I slowly stepped out into the frigid winter air. I looked ahead and spotted my long time friend and partner. "What's the situation?" I asked him

On any day of the year, the man I often refer to as Man Mountain was a force to be reckoned with, but today he looked pale; rattled. What ever it was, it had to be something beyond horrible.

"6 bodies" He said hesitantly.

I stopped. "Six?" I asked. I couldn't believe it. "Is it a dump site?"

"No, it's the murder scene. It appears that they were all killed about the same time." He replied. Then he stopped and grabbed my arm. "Look, I'm going to warn you... This is horrible. I mean worse then just about anything I've ever seen. The Truth school killings, those were bad, but this..." He trailed off. Not a good sign to say the least.

I looked over to where a fleet of official vehicles were caravaned in a semi-circle around the area. "The gang's all here." I said darkly. "Let's go take a look."

He lead the way through the perimeter tape and the flat-feet cops, who where preoccupied holding back the media vultures. As soon as I stepped into the actual crime scene, I was beginning to see exactly what he meant.

Flashes were going off everywhere as the crime scene photographers tried to catch as much evidence on film before the incoming blizzard buried it all under sixteen inches of snow. I could see why it was so frenzied. They had a lot of ground to cover because there was blood spatter on just about everything.

We walked over the the medical examiner. "So, what have you found so far?" I asked.

The doctor was a hard nosed man but he looked sick to his stomach and led me to the first of the lumpy sheets on the ground. "I think this is the first victim. Caucasian girl, about 10 years old."

"Any signs of sexual abuse or assault?" I asked. I hate this part of the job, but in order to do it right, you have to be rather ghoulish.

"No. The suspected cause of death is significant blunt force trauma." He said and lifted up the bloodstained sheet. "This girl is in pieces." I looked at the girl, she seemed small for her age, but her face betrayed that thought. She'd seen her fair share of fights long before her murder. There were scars across her face and neck.

"There are obvious signs of struggle. Two fingernails are missing from her left hand. Suggesting that the right arm had already been badly damaged or was restrained. However, I'd have to go with the first, due the lack of ligiture marks." I said as the ME was writing his reports.

"What about the other victims?" I asked.

"After this little girl stopped breathing, it became a cluster fuck attack. It looks like those kids tried to fight the crazy son of a bitch." The ME stated and nimbly maneuvered around the plethera of large blood pools.

I stepped over the the next body. "Male, caucasian, I'd guess at about 15 or so. COD..." I stopped and looked away. "Massive damage to the Jugular Arteries... Basically, he bled out." That was and understatement. 'Throat removal' may have been more apt. There was a large gaping wound that hung open like a draw bridge, even in it's horizontal post mortem position. It was hideous.

"The subject has already changed his MO." I said to myself and stopped moving.

"What are you thinking, Man Mountain asked.

"I think he came prepared for this. This isn't isn't the random blitz attack of a sadistic individual, who just happened to stumble upon these kids." I said with a grimace.

"Are you thinking it's a pattern killer?"

"No. That would mean that he methodically planned every single detail. The MO's wouldn't change like this. This is definitely something out of the norm. Technically can't even label it a serial killing since it happened at the same time and there is no precedent of this kind of attack, at least that I know of." I said, sounding painfully like the criminal psychologist that I am.

"So what we're saying is we're dealing with a sick fuck who decimated six kids, until he does it again?" He said disbelievingly.

"No, what I'm saying is we won't have the FBI to give us enough man power to him down until he strikes again" I looked around, taking in the positions of the bodies. "They aren't placed or positioned, they were left to lay where they fell. This doesn't feel right. It wasn't a single killer. There had to be multiple attackers."

"A cult?" He asked.

"There's not ceremony to this at all. No symbols, no ritual. No, it's not a cult. But it's disgusting. I need some air." I said. I couldn't stand to look at the scene any longer. "Get the ME to send me the autopsy files. Meanwhile. Get those kids printed with descriptions. I want to try and find out who these kids are before their families find out on the news." I said gesturing to the journalist and camera's standing outside of the perimeter tape.

He tried to follow me. I held out a hand. "I- I need a few minutes to myself." I said and continued the trek back to my car.

Once there I sat with the heat going full blast. For some reason, I don't think that the D.C winter air is to blame for this deep chill I have. This was unlike anything I'd ever scene before and it scared the shit out of me. I picked up the cell phone.

"Hey Gran, can you pick the kids up from school right now?... I'll tell you when I get home. No, don't let them outside. I want them safe. ... Yeah, it's kids. It's really bad. Can you do that for me?" I asked. Gran said she'd pick them up and I hung up the phone. 

Now, what was I going to do?

-------------------------- --------------------------------- ---------------------------- ----------------------------

Fang was still sneezing as we entered the store.

"Are you sure you're okay, Fang?" I asked.

He looked at me darkly. "What do you think?" He said sarcastically.

I grimaced. "Okay everybody, I want you to grab coats, gloves, hats and scarves. Gazzy you need to grab some real shoes. Your feet have to be freezing." We're in D.C., in a blizzard and Gazzy is wearing flip- flops. Sometimes I wonder about that kid's sanity.

I went through the racks and pulled out a lambskin lined denim coat. I looked at the price tag and winced. Eighty bucks for a coat! Sighing I added it to the cart. Looks like the bank card was going to cry today.

Iggy came up to me. "Max, I need help." He said.

"Okay." I said and pushed the cart down the aisles. "We're in the men's section." I said and started going through the selection of coats. I pulled out a parka looking one. It looked like it'd be warm enough. "Here try this on." I said.

He slipped it on. "It's a little tight in the back." He said. In case you're unaware this is flock speak for "My wings are completely crushed." I sighed and helped him take it off.

I put the coat back up and pulled out a slightly larger bomber jacket. "Try this." I said.

"This'll do." he said and took it off. I grabbed the coat and put it in the cart. Fang, Gazzy and Nudge came with their selections.

"Fang, can you direct Iggy to the hat's and stuff. I have to find Angel." I said.

Fang tapped Iggy's hand and lead him to the accessories section.

I pushed the cart into the girl's section of the store. Angel wasn't anywhere to be found. "Angel? Angel, where are you?" I called.

Angel popped out of a rack. "Max, something weird just happened." She said, sounding un-nerved.

"What?" asked. "And why were you hiding?"

"Max, this weird guy came through here... I know I'm not supposed to, but I read his mind. Max, he just killed some kids!" She said. Now she was terrified.

"Okay, Ange. Where did he go?" I asked.

"He left, but I'm afraid." She said looking around.

"Let's get the stuff we need and we'll get out of here lickity-split." I said. Angel climbed into the basket and I went to meet up with the other guys in Accessories.

Iggy dropped a pair of gloves and a knit cap into the cart. "Are we ready?" I asked.

"Yeah." Iggy said. I quickly reached over and randomly grabbed the first pair of cloves I could find. Which fortunately were a soft leather pair.

"We need to get out of here asap." I said to Fang.

He looked at me concerned. "Why?"

"Angel just picked up on some creepy stuff from some wacko who just killed some kids. She's freaking out and I think it would be in all of our best interests to get out of here." I said.

Fang nodded and we all headed for the check out.

Grand total for the ability to not freeze our butts off? $300. I about choked.

We all ripped the tags off and headed out the door decked out in our new winder gear .

"Okay guys, let's get something to eat before we head out into this blizzard." I said. The young kids cheered but I looked over at Fang. He knew that I was mildly freaked out. Sure, erasers I could handle, but random murderous whack jobs, now there's a scary thought.

"Are you okay, Max?" he asked.

I shook my head. "We have to get the kids out of sight first, then I'll figure out weither or not I"m okay. " I said and ran across the street to a diner. "Here guys!" I yelled. Like young ducklings they followed me. Maybe that analogy was a bit too on the mark...


End file.
